The Pocket Casts podcast app is now free

The Pocket Casts podcast app is now free

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  • Pocket Casts, a popular podcast app, is now free on Android and iOS. The company has also launched a way of playing your own files within the app, and has launched Pocket Casts Plus, an optional subscription for additional features, the web player and desktop app. Pocket Casts was US$3.99; if you bought the desktop/web app (a one-off $9 fee), you’ll get Plus free for three years.
    • While positive about the mobile app, reaction on social media from those that bought the desktop app (which we imagine is a small minority of users) has been negative - noting that the previous $9 was clearly marked as “no monthly subscriptions” and would be payablejust once”. Owen Grover, the CEO of Pocket Casts, told Podnews that: “We will continue to monitor sentiment closely to ensure we get this right. All of this is new for us too and we appreciate the passion and loyalty of our users, many of whom have been with us for many years.” He’s speaking at OzPod on Thursday 3rd October in Melbourne VIC, Australia.

    • Aug 16 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
    • Opinion: It’s the app we use, and is by far the best podcast experience on Android: so good, we bought it twice. It’s here for iOS, and here for Android; the iOS version is awaiting an update to be approved by Apple. Listen to us on Pocket Casts

UPDATE: within 24 hours, the company said that everyone who bought access to the desktop/web apps will get Pocket Casts Plus for life.

  • The Daily from the New York Times, which launched Feb 1 2017, has hit a billion total downloads, the company has announced. The Daily now achieves more than two million downloads per episode.

  • Spotify has announced the results of their second 'Sound Up’ Podcast Accelerator for Women in Color. Christina Orlando, Janae Burris, Shayla Martin and SK were each awarded US$10,000 to fund their own podcasts. Meanwhile, Paul Vogel, Spotify’s “VP and head of financial planning & analysis, treasury and investor relations” (imagine the business card) said in a conference that podcast audiences on Spotify increased by 50% from Q1 to Q2 2019, and that it has a positive effect on user retention and churn.

  • Amazon has announced Amazon Music HD, which, for $5 extra per month, will offer HD songs in lossless FLAC format at “16 bits 44.1kHz sampling”, and “million” of songs in ultra HD (“24 bits at up to 192kHz sampling”). The Verge points out that most phones have a maximum of 24-bit 44.1kHz sound chips anyway, and you’re unlikely to hear the difference using Bluetooth headphones.

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Companies mentioned above:
Amazon logoAmazonAmazon Music logoAmazon MusicApple logoAppleBlogTalkRadio logoBlogTalkRadioiHeartRadio logoiHeartRadioJAR Audio logoJAR AudioLocked On logoLocked OnPocket Casts logoPocket CastsPodchaser logoPodchaserPodReacher logoPodReacherSpotify logoSpotifySpreaker logoSpreakerThe Verge logoThe VergeVoxnest logoVoxnest

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